Paint Me a Picture
by that one little guy
Summary: Ken can't forget about the Dark Spore, but Wormmon has an idea that just might help. Pure sugariness, pack your toothbrush.


**A/N: **So, you can consider this my apology for not updating anything in months (though it's winter break so hopefully that'll change soon). This was kind of inspired by something I saw on Tumblr, as well as my general need for Ken and Wormmon fluffiness. Let's keep our fingers crossed for Ken and the other 02 kids to show up in Digimon Tri!

––

It was a cold and dreary morning that greeted Wormmon as he stuck his head out of the blankets. He blearily realized that Ken wasn't in bed with him, and as he blinked his eyes open, he saw that his partner was already on the floor of his room, quietly and methodically changing into his school uniform.

"You're going to school, Ken?" he said in surprise. "It's Saturday, isn't it?"

"I have to make up a test today," Ken replied without turning around. "I guess I really was gone for a long time. I still haven't made up everything."

"Oh," Wormmon said softly, feeling his antennae droop at the sound of Ken's toneless voice. It was clear from the way he was acting that he was having one of his bouts of moodiness. Wormmon's job was to always make sure his partner was happy, but when your partner was the former Digimon Emperor that wasn't always easy.

"Ken… you're upset about something. What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, Wormmon," said Ken, the words ringing hollow as they ever did.

Ken finished dressing and left his room to finish getting ready for school. Wormmon jumped down from the bed and followed him into the bathroom, where he found him standing in front of the mirror and slowly brushing his hair, gazing at his reflection with a tired, melancholy expression. Wormmon watched silently, trying to figure out what was bothering Ken and how he could help.

Finally, Ken seemed to abandon the endeavor of brushing his hair and set the brush down on the counter. Instead he turned so that his back was facing the mirror, pushing his hair up and gazing over his shoulder at the reflection of the back of his neck… and Wormmon's heart sank. Now he knew exactly what the problem was.

"Oh, Ken… is that what's bothering you?"

"I'm sorry, Wormmon," Ken muttered, turning back around to face his partner. "I just can't stop thinking about it. The Dark Spore."

He was talking about the source of all of his past suffering, the thing that had corrupted him into the Digimon Emperor in the first place. The problem was, it was a spore made up of data, unable to be detected or removed by any known means. Even if it wasn't affecting him anymore, there was no way to ever get it out.

"But Ken… it can't hurt you anymore, right? That's what you said."

"What if I was wrong?" Ken said softly, his gaze drawing back over to the mirror. "I don't know anything about it, Wormmon, not really. I just… can't stand knowing it's still there and there's nothing I can do about it."

Wormmon's gaze fell to the floor, shame welling up inside him as he realized he had no idea what to say to make everything better. If he couldn't get the Spore out for his partner, what help could he possibly be?

"Sorry, Wormmon. I have to leave for school," said Ken, picking his book bag up off the bathroom floor and walking out. Wormmon slowly walked out after him, watching him silently as he gave a few halfhearted goodbyes to his parents and left the apartment, shutting the door behind him.

Sighing deeply, Wormmon crawled back into Ken's room to wait until his partner came back. He curled up on the floor, a multitude of saddening thoughts running through his head. Ken and his friends had destroyed all the remnants of his old reign, and the Digital World was back to being the beautiful place it was meant to be, but the Dark Spore was one remainder of his past that couldn't be gotten rid of so easily. As long as it was there, Wormmon wondered if Ken would ever be able to truly move on with his life.

He gave a jolt as the phone on Ken's table suddenly began to ring. Quickly hopping from the floor to the chair to the tabletop, Wormmon lifted it off the receiver.

"Hello, Ichijouji residence."

"Hiya, Wormmon. Is Ken around?"

"Oh, hello Davis," said Wormmon. "No, Ken had to go to school this morning to take a test."

"Really? On a Saturday? Wow, that stinks," said Davis on the other end. "I was gonna ask if he wanted to hang out today, but… guess I'll catch him later."

"I don't know if he'll want to do anything today. He's not feeling very well."

"Oh…" Davis immediately understood the implications, and that "not well" in this case didn't mean sick. "Well, I hope he gets better. Talk to you later, Wormmon."

Davis was about to hang up, but suddenly an idea occurred to Wormmon and he felt a thrill of alarm as he moved to stop him before he did.

"Wait, Davis – "

"Hmm? What's wrong, Wormmon?"

Wormmon swallowed hard, suddenly feeling very awkward and self-conscious. "…Can I go with you instead?"

––

Davis was strolling down the streets of Odaiba, where he and the other Digidestined children lived, with Wormmon and Demiveemon each riding on one of his shoulders. Ever since the end of last year, the human world at large had finally found out about Digimon, and ever so slowly people were learning to accept them. Wormmon was glad that he no longer had to be pretend to be some kind of stuffed animal when he and Ken were out and about, although today Davis was still getting the occasional odd look from passerby due to the two little creatures hanging on to him.

"I just don't know what to do, Davis," Wormmon sighed. "Usually I know how to make Ken feel better, but there's nothing I can do about this. He's been so sad because of the Dark Spore, and how he can't get rid of it."

"Oh, yeah. I guess that would get me down too," Davis said quietly, hands in his pockets as he walked down the sidewalk. It was a chilly Saturday morning, and plenty of kids were running around and playing in their winter jackets. "Well, between the three of us, I bet we can think of something, right? Demiveemon, you got any ideas?"

"Let's eat jellybeans!" Demiveemon cheered, waving his little arms around.

"Vee, that's what _you _like to do. We're talking about Ken here."

Demiveemon pouted. "I thought everybody liked jellybeans."

"Well, there's gotta be _something _around here to help Ken take his mind off it," Davis muttered, looking around. "Wormmon, what does he usually do for fun? Go to the park?"

"…Not really…"

"What about… going to see a movie?"

"…Maybe sometimes?"

"Well, why don't we just go to the school soccer field and play a game? He loves that!"

"But Davis… the Dark Spore was what made him so good at soccer in the first place."

"Oh, right." Davis grumbled something to himself, shoving his hands deeper in his pockets. "Man, this is hard. We gotta think of something that won't make him – "

"_Oh my goodness!_" Wormmon cried, flailing around in fright on Davis's shoulder. The gogglehead spun around to find Wormmon backing away from a rather punk-looking teenage boy who was standing nearby. His hair was dyed red and black, he was wearing all black leather, and both of his arms were completely covered up and down in brightly colored splotches, definitely not the right skin tone for a human.

"D-Davis! There's something wrong with that human! I think his skin is melting off!"

"What the – Wormmon!" Davis quickly grabbed him off his shoulder and shushed him, racing off to somewhere less populated and trying to ignore the stares he was getting from the boy and everyone else nearby.

"Geez, Wormmon, you can't just shout things like that for everybody to hear," he scolded once they were out of earshot. "Anyway, there was nothing wrong with that guy. He just had a bunch of tattoos is all."

Wormmon cocked his head. "What are 'tattoos', Davis?"

"Yeah, what are tattoos, Davis?" Demiveemon asked eagerly, standing up on Davis's shoulder and placing his paws on his partner's head.

"Oh, well…" Davis kept forgetting that there were still so many things about the human world that the Digimon didn't know about. "Tattoos are a thing that some humans like to get done on their bodies. They're like drawings, except they're under your skin, so they're permanent."

Wormmon's eyes grew very wide. "Really? Humans do that to themselves?"

"That sounds like it hurts," Demiveemon said softly, sounding very serious.

"Well yeah, I guess it hurts. They use needles and stuff. But people like 'em anyway for whatever reason. I mean heck, my sister wanted the name of some guy she liked tattooed on her arm. Obviously my mom and dad said no, I mean I'm pretty sure the guy didn't even know she existed, so…"

Wormmon had suddenly started thinking very hard, wearing a look of intense concentration as Davis held him in his arms. "Davis?" he spoke up. "What kind of tattoos do humans get?"

"Hmm? Well, whatever you want. I guess usually it's a picture of something you like, or something that means something important to you, or…"

Wormmon was thinking even harder. Very slowly, something was beginning to formulate in his mind. If what Davis was saying about these tattoos was really true, then maybe… just maybe…

"I have an idea."

He suddenly jumped out of Davis's arms, landing on the sidewalk and starting to scamper off.

"_Woah! _Wormmon, what the heck? Where are you going?"

"I'm going back home! I have to see Ken right now!"

"Uh, but Wormmon… the train station's the _other _way."

Wormmon drew to a stop. "Oh, right." He suddenly realized he had no idea where he was. "Uh… maybe you'd better bring me back, Davis."

––

Davis dropped Wormmon off at Ken's apartment in Tamachi before Ken came home, and so Wormmon was already sitting and waiting eagerly at the table in Ken's room when his partner opened the door and came walking in.

"Hi, Ken. How was your test?"

"All right, I guess," said Ken, putting his book bag on the floor. "I don't really know for sure. I won't find out for another week or so."

He slid onto the chair and sat down, and Wormmon frowned. It didn't sound like Ken's mood had improved at all. Although, Wormmon was pretty sure that taking a test wasn't the best way to cheer anybody up.

"Ken… are you still feeling bad?"

"Sorry, Wormmon. I'm sure you're sick and tired of me moping around like this," Ken muttered, not meeting his partner's gaze. "You'd think I'd be over this by now, but… I just don't know what to do."

"Ken, listen," said Wormmon, crawling across the table over to him. "I know there's nothing I can do for you about the Dark Spore, but… I might have an idea that'll help you to feel better."

Now Ken did look at his partner. "And what's that?"

Wormmon had no clue what Ken would think of his idea; he didn't know how good an idea it even was. Human culture was a strange thing, after all. But he told it to Ken anyway, hoping and praying he'd at least think about it. He just wanted so badly for Ken to not be sad anymore.

"…I don't know, Wormmon," Ken said softly, the look on his face suggesting he'd never even considered such a thing before and was quite uncomfortable at the thought of it. "I… I don't know if I want anything going near my neck like that again."

"But, it'd be your choice this time. Wouldn't that make you feel better?"

Ken said nothing, absentmindedly stroking his neck with his finger. Honestly, it probably _would _make him feel better… it would finally give him some autonomy over the situation. But it was still a frightening thought. He'd always tried so hard to be the perfect son; what would his parents think about this?

"I don't know if Mama and Papa would let me. I'm probably not old enough."

"Ken, your parents would let you do anything you wanted if it made you happy. You know that."

That was true too. Ever since he'd come back after running away to the Digital World, his parents doted on him every chance they got and were willing to give him pretty much anything he wanted, determined not to take him for granted again. Taking advantage of that would normally just make him feel guilty, but…

"I… do you… really think it would help, Wormmon?" he whispered. His eyes were wide with some mixture of hope and fear, and his voice was trembling. "I'd… never thought of doing something like this, but I… I think I would like to." He looked astonished at his own words. "Wormmon, I… this just might… did you really come up with this all by yourself?"

"Well, not really… Davis helped me think of it."

"Did he really?" Ken cracked a little smile, the first one Wormmon had seen all day. "Well, next time we play soccer, remind me not to beat him by quite so much."

Wormmon gave a little gasp. "So you… you really like my idea, Ken? You really want to try it?"

"Yes, Wormmon. I do."

––

Ken talked it over with his parents, and just like Wormmon had predicted, they capitulated quite easily once they realized how much this could potentially mean to their son. It would cost quite a bit of money, but Ken had made enough doing commercial spots and the like that he was more than willing to pay for it himself. He wouldn't ask his parents to do this for him; it was his choice.

And so about a week later, Ken walked into a small tattoo parlor with Wormmon riding on his shoulders. His parents had let him go by himself as long as he had Wormmon with him; Stingmon could protect him better than they ever could.

A few hours later, he came stepping out again, feeling quite disoriented and having a hard time believing that he'd really and truly gone through with this. Wormmon was bouncing up and down on his shoulder, looking far more excited.

"Let's see it again, Ken."

"Okay," Ken said in a rather shaky voice. Turning so his back was facing a nearby window, Ken pushed his hair up and got a good long look at the Crest of Kindness tattooed into the back of his neck, right over where the Dark Spore was. It was small and unobtrusive, and the same beautiful violet color as the original. Wormmon beamed at the sight of it; he still didn't really understand how tattoos worked, but he certainly liked the looks of it.

"Oh, it looks so good on you, Ken!" he said happily. "See? Now when you look at it in the mirror, you don't have to think about the Dark Spore. You can look at it and think about all the good things that make you who you really are. Because no matter what, nothing can ever take that away from you."

When Ken didn't respond, still gazing silently at his reflection, his expression betraying nothing, Wormmon suddenly felt a prick of nervousness. "Ken? Are you all right?"

_Oh, no… what if he doesn't like it? Oh, I wanted so badly to cheer him up, but maybe I just made a mistake… and Davis said tattoos are permanent, so he can't change it…_

"Ken?" he ventured timidly. "Oh, Ken… I'm so sorry if you don't like it… I just wanted to make you feel better, but if you don't – "

"I love it."

"Hmm?" Ken's voice had been a mere whisper, and Wormmon turned to make sure he'd heard him. "What, Ken?"

Ken was still staring at his neck, eyes shimmering, and ever so slowly, a grin was drawing across his face.

"I love it," he repeated, more loudly, sounding like he barely believed it himself. He broke out into a laugh, and Wormmon gasped as he suddenly grabbed him off his shoulder and started spinning him around.

"I love it, I _love _it!" he cheered as he twirled around, laughing all the while, smiling that beautiful smile that made Wormmon dizzy every time he saw it. "Wormmon, this was the best idea _ever!_" He finally came to a stop, eyes bright with tears, and pulled his partner into a tight embrace. "Thank you so, so much," he whispered, stroking Wormmon behind the antennae, shaking all over with joy.

Wormmon was growing lightheaded, and not just from the spinning; he wasn't sure which one of them was happier right now. "Of course, Ken," he said. "You know you only deserve the very best."

Ken let out a small laugh. He didn't think he'd ever really believe that, not the way Wormmon did, but having such a caring and devoted partner who would do _this _for him… so often it made him feel like he really was worth loving after all.

"Come on, let's go home and show Mama and Papa. I'm sure they'll love it too," he said immediately, placing Wormmon back on his shoulder where he quickly settled into place. "_And_, I think there's a bowl of ice cream at home with your name on it."

Wormmon gasped. "_Ice cream!_" he cheered as Ken set off down the sidewalk and back to their apartment. He nuzzled against Ken's shoulder with lights in his eyes and his spirits soaring. True, making his partner happy wasn't always easy, but he couldn't think of anything more satisfying. Seeing Ken smile and laugh, knowing he'd helped make things just a little easier for him, was all he ever needed.

Though the ice cream certainly didn't hurt either.


End file.
